A self-driving electric shuttle built by French firm NAVYA began a one-week stint in Las Vegas, in a US first.

Arma shuttles began providing free rides along a three-block stretch of Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas, a vintage part of Sin City that is a tourist attraction away from the casino-lined main strip.

The pilot public transit program will last a week, and was touted as the first time a fully autonomous, electric powered shuttle was left to its own devices to deal with traffic on a public street in the United States.

NAVYA displayed Arma at the Consumer Electronics Show that ended Sunday in Las Vegas.

The US became the seventh country where Arma shuttles have been put to use since the vehicles debuted in France in late 2015, the company said in a release.